We're Back!

This week officially started our maintenance season and we could not be happier to be outside!  Let's face it, everyone in golf loves what nature has to offer and appreciates what it does for our well being.  I am very pleased to see everyone from my staff last fall returning to start their second season all the way to their 17th.  These guys are the ones who make it happen out there and deserve the credit for making the property as beautiful as it is.

Jose Chavez brushing 5 green to help work in some sand from
last fall's topdressing.  He is starting his 6th year with us and is
one of the most caring people I have met.

All the moisture in the ground is limiting what we can and cannot do around the property, but I appreciate it to some degree, because it forces me to stay focused.  Staff has been cleaning up mulch beds so new mulch can be laid and cutting down old growth on perennials and other plants.  It's a pretty large task since we have nearly 1.25 acres of mulched landscape beds.

During those couple days of 50 mph winds, the course fared pretty well.  We did lose a couple large branches, one being next to 5 Ladies and the other behind 16 Black.  The tree on 5 will be removed due to the extent of limb loss, but we will be able to salvage the tree behind 16 tee.  The black tee ended up being damaged by the branch to the extent that we will end up replacing the sod.  While we are up there, we will also replace the sod on the blue tee.

We were able to get mowers out on greens and collars to remove the winter fuzz this week.  Everything looked really nice after the cut and will only get better as we warm up.  Tees will be cut next week and as soon as we can get fairway mowers out, we will.  After that we will move on to rough with some aggressive brushing, raking, vacuuming and aeration.  Don't worry, you will not find any plugs in the rough when we are done.

4 Green is looking great following the first mowing of the year.

I'm rather pleased how greens are looking this early in the season.  There might be a little Poa damage here and there that we will address as needed. What is not damaged will be slow to wake up this spring.  This is actually a good thing because it provides an opportunity for bentgrass to creep into those areas and establish itself.

All of the tan spots are Poa that did not like winter
all that much.  This will recover this year, but in
other years has died for a couple different reasons.
Maintaining mixed stands of turf are a liability to
the performance of the golf course.

All sorts of healthy and resilient bentgrass surround this patch
of Poa.  We do our best to promote healthy bentgrass in
effort to reduce the amount of Poa on our surfaces.  

A close look at what I love seeing.  Bentgrass growing around and
through Poa.  I'm hoping we will see more bentgrass establish in
these areas since Poa has been slow to grow this year.

A few of our high traffic tees have been covered to help raise soil temperatures, promote growth and germinate seed.  These covers help create a greenhouse effect during the day and insulate the surface at night.  You may remember seeing them on greens in the past to help us recover from winter injury.  We will keep these covers on tees as much as necessary to help us through the cooler months of spring.  You can see below what a cover can do for soil temps.  These photos were taken on a cloudy day within minutes of each other.  I'll post photos on a sunny day of both soil and surface temps to show the "magic" of these covers.

Our short par 3 11th tee covered.

Soil temp at a 2" depth without a cover.

Soil temp at a 2" depth with a cover. 

Next week will bring lots of attention to bunker detail.  We will check sand depths and distribute where necessary to maintain a consistent layer of sand.  Edges will then be freshened up, soft sand compacted, and finish them with a rake to prepare for play.

An opening date has not yet been set, but as we get closer, we will be sure to let you know.

See you on the course!